A Different Sort of Fairytale
by sakura13
Summary: What happens when, in the worst of circumstances, two worlds collide? Watch as the two most unlikely people are thrown together during a whirlwind of violence and chaos during the Carrows reign of terror. DMGW. NEW SUMMARY.
1. Chapter 1

How is it than when everything seems impossible, that everything is so perfect? Right as the world around me falls apart, that it just comes together? How can something so horrible, be so… right?

Wait, back up. Forgive me, I'm going on a bit of a poetic ramble here. None of that made sense, but it does. God! I'm doing it again, the deep paradoxes. Love addles the brain and makes you take leave of your senses.

War can do that as well. It turns strong willed men into whimpering heaps crying for their mothers. Weak and quiet people turn into the psychotic war criminals. The unlikely and unassuming rise up and become the heroes. It all sounds so great. But not this war. No, not this time. Not when the psycho becomes the hero and the hero becomes a pariah. War's not so glorious when the wrong side wins.

But, that's a little off topic. True, this is yet another story of young love in a time of war, but this isn't what you think it is. This is Romeo and Juliet in a WWII Concentration Camp. The twist? Romeo is the up and coming Gestapo and Juliet is the inmate.

_-_-_-_-_

I paused, then pulled out my wand, letters appearing on the wall. Dumbledore's Army Will Rise Again. Not the catchiest phrase but it gave hope to us people trapped here in Hogwarts.

There is something I'd never thought I'd think. Hogwarts, a prison. Somehow my home away from home, my safe haven in the war, had become the battleground. I was on the front lines too. I pocketed my wand and Neville led the small group of us down the twisting halls to the Common Room. Pretty soon us Gryffs wouldn't be safe there anymore. The Carrows were horrible and knew we'd gather there. Nowhere else in the school had a semblance of safety. Even the library had become Slytherin turf. No Gryffindor even left the Commons alone, and groups of three or more were barely "safe" anymore.

We somehow made it back to the Commons without incident. That was good, because it was two AM and we were dead if caught. "Good job guys, that'll at least distract the Carrows long enough to get those first years out of the dungeons." Neville looked at me, Seamus, Lavender, and Pavartie. "I cast the time release on it so it'll show up right at dinner. It'll show up we'll be sent to dorms. McGongall will cover for us. We rescue them from the Cruciatus." Neville rebelled at every chance, people being tortured under that curse hit a major nerve in him.

We all slowly started to drift off until Seamus, Neville and I were alone. "We need a way to hide from them." I said quietly. "We can't keep running here and put the whole house in danger."

Neville and Seamus nodded. "They sealed off every entrance. We're stuck here. Hogwarts is all but a fortress now." Seamus was resigned to the Carrows being here. That didn't mean he liked it any more than I did.

"Where are we supposed to go Gin?" Neville looked at me, and the dying embers of the fire threw the injuries on his face into sharp relief, he looked horrible. "The Carrows will catch us wherever we are."

I racked my brain. Inspiration struck. "We go to the one place they know exists but can't find. The Room of Requirement."

Neville shook his head. "We know where it is. Harry never told us how to make it appear though. We can't access it."

Right as I was about to tell him that Harry and I would sneak off there to have alone time without Ron around and that I'd seen him do it enough to figure it out, the portrait hole swung open. "Hello children." We all froze as the Carrows stalked it. "You should know better than to brag about your crimes in a bugged room." They bugged the Common Room!

We whipped out our wands. Screw Hogwarts being a fortress. Screw Harry and Ron and Hermione for taking off and leaving us all here to die. Screw my parents for not leaving England when Dumbledore died and Harry our "Great Savior" ran off like a kicked dog. Screw the repercussions. I was getting the hell out of here. I dodged the now too familiar yellow burst of light.

I'll teach them to torture me. You're messing with the wrong Weasley idiot. I threw up a shield to hover in front of me and dodged a few more Cruico's. The Carrows laughed as Seamus fell to the ground, screaming in agony. I hurled a stunner at the male, Alecto, and he dodged, growing in anger. He threw a black spell at me, lighting fast.

I gasped and shook on the ground as what felt like bolts of lightning flew through my body. "IDIOT! We need the Weasley girl alive! The Dark Lord needs her to lure Potter in with! We can't lure him and the youngest Weasley male if she's dead!" Dead? I'm… dying? But, I can't die. My body convulsed impulsively and I found I couldn't control myself. As hard as I tried, I jerked around, no conscious thought behind the wild movement. "Go get Severus, he'll brew the counter potion. I'm no good with cauldrons and the like."

"Severus is gone."

"Then find somebody else to brew the damn potion! Just make sure the damn girl is alive!" I heard somebody getting slapped and footsteps leading away. Out of the corner of my slowly fading vision I saw Neville and Seamus floating away and I slowly followed, still flailing uncontrollably.

_-_-_-_

I started at the knock on my door. "Wha?" I sat up in bed, confused as to the light pouring in from the open doorway.

"Get up Malfoy." Carrow? Why was he here? "You're good at potions, correct?" I rubbed my eyes as I nodded. What time was it anyway? "Good, I need you. Snape's gone and we need a potion brewed. I… had an accident with a student the Dark Lord needs alive. The Weasley girl."

"An accident?" It was too early for this.

"The Soul Eating Spell. I need it reversed or it'll be your ass before the Dark Lord."

"My ass Carrow? Who was the idiot that cast the Soul Eating Spell on a vital person? I'm not the idiot that did that. It's not my fault if she dies." I felt a little bit bad for her. I'd had that nasty spell on me once, it's not a pleasant experience. Once you get past the convulsions as it works its way through your body it's half Dementor half very powerful Crucio. It was a recent invention of the sickos in the Dark Lord's ranks. A soon to be Unforgivable. If there was even a government left to regulate such things once he was done with England.

I pulled myself out of bed and fumbled in my trunk for pants and a shirt. I wasn't brewing potions at… two in the morning while wearing boxers. I quickly donned my clothing and pulled on my slippers. Yes, Draco Malfoy wears slippers. I followed Carrow down the halls to a room just off the Torture Chambers. Well, technically they were called the Detention and Reeducation Rooms. That meant if you got detention or defended the muggles and/or half-bloods they tortured you in that room.

"Good. Malfoy, the counter potion and girl are in there. He hit her five minutes ago." The uglier of the Carrows directed me to a side room where a cauldron sat over a fire.

"Have you cast the Soul Stasis spell yet?" It'd buy me some time.

"Soul Stasis? What the hell are you rambling about boy? Brew the damn potion!"

Merlin! They are so stupid… "The Soul Stasis Spell slows the other spell down! Idiots! Learn how to do something right before I AK you myself!" I would actually kill them… On second thought… it'd before for the better. The spell has to be cast almost immediately. I needed to work quickly. Seventeen minutes until she died? Well, started to die.

I brushed that thought aside and started to brew the potion as the youngest Weasley convulsed on the floor. I tried to ignore her as I quickly moved around the room, throwing herbs into the bubbling cauldron. It took me fifteen minutes to brew and I had to cool it the muggle way or it was ruined. I conjured a bucket and water and floated a vial of the potion in it. I counted the time down in my head.

Thirty seconds or so before shit got bad I pulled the vial out. "Open your mouth." She had her jaw clenched tight, "Stubborn witch! Just drink the damn potion!" Again, she refused. "If you have some semblance of a heart Weasley, drink the damn potion! If you don't, the Dark Lord tortures Carrow for a few minutes, kills him, then throws me in a dungeon for a few weeks where I'll be used a form of entertainment and a training dummy, so please, drink the damn thing." She still held her mouth shut. Losing my patience I grabbed her. "Listen, don't give a damn about me. Whatever. When your precious little Potter and brother and Granger find out that you were killed, they'll go postal, come here and try and lure the Dark Lord out. When he comes, he'll bring an entire army of Death Eaters and every person who rebelled against the Carrows will be dead. Potter and his little band of Merry Men will be overwhelmed by Death Eaters, subdued, and used as examples of what happens when you defy the Dark Lord. Want the entire world to go to shit? Die. Hold off the apocalypse for a few months? Drink. The. Damn. Potion." She finally relented.

None too soon either, not three seconds later she started writhing in pain. I cursed and started to cool another vial. When it had actually cooled I grabbed my knife and cut her shirt open. Not in a perverted way… I saw the tell-tale black mark with slowly creeping tendrils on her stomach. Hoping that the theory of putting the potion on the spell impact site was correct I crossed my fingers and poured the vial out. I'm not sure how long I sat there, her writhing in pain on the ground next to where I was sitting.

Somehow, during that time she ended up with her head on my lap. I really didn't have a problem with it. Despite my outwardly asshole/stuck up snob attitude I really didn't have a problem with the outcome of the war. This is my logic, Potter pulls out a miracle and wins, I go back to rich boy with the world at my finger tips. The Dark Lord wins and I have the world at my finger tips and bow to a megalomaniac.

Clearly, my life is better if Potter wins. However, the Dark Lord knows how far my loyalty goes and won't push away his biggest financer's son. He won't throw me on the front lines like he does my father. So, I don't die. If I fight on the Light side with Potter, I get thrown on the front lines against people who want me dead. I die. Better to be alive and bow at a psycho's feet.

So, I didn't mind if the Littlest Weasley found some ounce of comfort by cuddling. It'd take more effort to push her away than keep her here. Once the pain had mostly past and she was just living her worst memories she'd worked her way into a sitting position as she curled into my chest. I simply sighed and wrapped an arm around her as she tucked her head under my chin. I whispered that it was almost over.

I'm not sure why I was nice to her right then. It wasn't me. I was Draco Bloody Malfoy. Her entire family hates me. I'm supposed to hate her. But, seeing your "enemy" curled in a ball hits a nerve. I'm not evil. I don't kick people when they're down. I may have been a petty ass before, but watching your world fall apart makes a lot of things much more real. My life was no longer the pampered rich boy's, I now saw the absolute horror my mother had shielded me from. I saw my father rape and torture people and laugh when they begged him to let them leave and to stop.

Maybe I connected to her a little. We were both victims in this war, she just had the nerve and guts to fight back. I hid in my corner and pretended it wasn't happening. She knew she was a victim and tried to change it. I was a victim and pretended I wasn't when people asked. Maybe I wished I was a bit more like her.

All I know is I wish I wasn't me.

_-_-_-_

Wow, so I have some major writers block and tried to put something out just to flex my creative muscles. This came out better than expected. Most of the time I do these and save them on my flash drive and never see them again. I like this so I posted it. Hopefully you like it too?


	2. Chapter 2

I awoke and groaned when I felt my hands shackled to a hard stone wall. Not again. The previous night's events slowly returned and I couldn't help but remember an angel in the dark, one who kept the darkness at bay. Warm comforting arms, sweet voice, soft words, it was all tangled in a web of memories in the Chamber and every other horrible moment in these rooms.

"It seems our friend woke up." Crabbe laughed stupidly and Goyle joined in. "Play time."

"Knock it off Crabbe. The Carrows said to wait for them. They'll chain you to the wall if you start early. Wouldn't want to see the tables turn, eh, _friend_?" The third person in the room as I blearily opened my eyes shocked me, Malfoy never showed up for Hogwarts's new "detentions". He tended to stay away. His voice stirred something in me though. The person last night? No… it couldn't be. Malfoy was one of them.

"You're Dad doesn't have much influence Malfoy, so shut it. You have to back up your own words this time. You think you can take both of us?"

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Of course I could." He whipped out his wand and before stupid and stupider could do a thing, had their wands. He then knocked them both out. "Well, they certainly showed me to watch what I say." He rolled his eyes and sunk into a chair. "Weasley."

I looked at him curiously. "What do you want Malfoy?"

"Thank you for keeping me under the Dark Lords radar, at least for a little while."

"Piss off. Or, better yet, go jump off a cliff. Only Death Eaters call that Snake-Faced Bastard the Dark Lord. Go do us all a favor asshole." I gave him a death glare.

Surprisingly, he chuckled, not a condescending one, a real, true laugh. Like he enjoyed himself. "Quite feisty for being chained to a wall awaiting torture. Or are you into that sort of thing?"

Despite my heavy glares his comment sounded less like a baiting insult and more like a joke between friends. Was this some new psychological thing? Pretend to be nice then rip them down? "Piss off."

"No thank you."

Stupid fake polite Death Eater. "Then make yourself useful and let me go." It wouldn't work, but hey, worth a try.

"I can't. Only the Carrows and Snape can unlock those." Useful information. "I can do this though." He waved his wand at me and suddenly the lingering pain and the bite of the too tight shackles was gone. "It'll help. My mother would use it on me when my father and his friends got drunk and tortured me in our dungeons. It protects the mind from consciously feeling pain. Your body will react just as it normally would, and you'll know you're in pain, but you won't feel it. It's hard to explain. When they let you go I'll be down the hall to the right. I'll get you to a place where you and your friends can go."

"Why are you helping me?" That little detail bugged me.

"Because. It helps me. The Dark Lord winning this war will do nothing to make my life any easier. If I help you in secret, then you have a fighting chance. I'm better off if Potter ends this." He shrugged. "It's more so me wanting myself and my mother safe when this all ends. I don't give a rats ass about my father. He can rot in Azkaban for all I care." His mercury eyes hardened. "The Carrows are coming. Don't say a word, please." For half a second I saw a flash of terror. He'd just gone out a limb to help me in any way possible, and I could turn him in and get out of here, and he'd be dead. His entire future rested in my hands.

"I won't. And thank you, you didn't have to try and help."

He gave me a wistful look. "I'm not evil, I don't want to be the bad guy. I don't want to be the monster."

_-_-_-_

I limped out of the "Detention" Room and almost went to the left, towards Gryffindor, but something that Malfoy had said tugged at me. I looked once towards the left, then towards the right. I had only a hunch to go off of as to why I should trust Malfoy, and every reason to go back to the Common Room. I shook my head and headed off down the halls.

"I didn't think you'd come. I had a hunch though." Malfoy was sitting on the stairs that lead up in the general direction of the Charms Room. "Here. It's a nerve regen potion. It helps with the shaking." I looked at the offered bottle. So far he hadn't done anything to give me any reason to doubt him. Of course, I had no reason for even being here. Going again on my hunch I accepted and quickly drank the silvery potion. Oddly, it tasted okay. For a potion. "Follow me. I know a place where you and your friends can hide out from the Carrows. It's getting really dangerous for you all."

I limped down the halls after him. The stairs were impossible. If I still wasn't feeling the effects of his spell I would've passed out from the way my muscles were protesting. He turned around. "They did a number on you. Here." He grabbed my right arm and crouched so I was leaning against him. He was all but dragging me down the halls. He hauled me down several corridors until I was standing outside the entrance of the Room of Requirement.

"This is what I've come to call the Room of Hidden Things. I pace three times, and it appears." He did so and a door appeared in the wall. He helped me in. "It gave me chairs and other things when I needed them."

"Harry knew about it, he always called it the Room of Requirement. It does a lot of things."

He looked a bit shocked. "Here I thought I knew a big secret."

"Not many know how to get in. Only you and me. Harry, Ron and Hermione know but they aren't exactly telling everybody."

"So, you seem to know. How's it work?"

"You think of what you need. To change the room drastically you gotta leave. It only exists if someone is there."

"So, if I say I needed a place for the night?"

"It'll give you a comfy room with a bed I guess." I wasn't an expert really.

He led me out and conjured the room again. Walking in there was a warm fire blazing in the fireplace and a huge bed big enough for five people. "Nice. This is so much more useful then what I was doing. Your entire House might be able to stay here."

"Maybe." He nodded in agreement and had me sit on the couch.

"So. I was thinking. You need a way to win the war and I'm not big on the Dark Side or whatever you call them winning. You can fight. I get killed for thinking bad thoughts."

I wasn't following. "Where do I come in?"

"You are a connection to Potter, and people are looking to Longbottom as well. If I help you two train, then you teach the other Seventh and Sixth years to fight, I mean really fight, when the Dark Lord tries to take the castle, eradicate the last "Light" stronghold, you all can mount a defense and keep them at bay long enough for others to show up and clean up the remaining Death Eaters. I can give warning to you all because I'm the go between for the Carrows and the Death Eaters here. They all think I'm the Dark Lord's next right hand man."

"So you are a Death Eater?" It didn't come as a huge shock to me.

"Yes, I am." He actually looked ashamed, it was odd to see him as… well, human. "I was under the Imperious Curse. Severus see's me as the one person he can save from Azkaban. I'm not quite sure it's possible. He puts me under the Imperious Curse at all the meetings I have to go to."

One thing about his little monologue struck me as odd. "Why doesn't he just save himself? The Imperious Curse, no matter how noble his supposed intentions might be is illegal. He'll get life in maximum security."

Malfoy let out a humorless laugh. "No, he won't. Once this all ends, if your side wins he'll be kissed. He knows this. Dumbledore may have planned for his death but Severus still did it. The whole world knows this. After everything ends his name will be the symbol for the light once again and people will love him again and Severus will be a pariah. What he does now holds no sway."

I nodded, still wondering if I believed his story. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"You don't. I guess it'll be a leap of faith on your part."

At least he's honest. "I guess so."

He looked down at his watch. "The Carrows will already be patrolling the halls. Ten minutes until curfew, I'd stay the night here if I were you. No need to suffer too much. If Longbottom asks just tell him that once the Carrows let you go it was too late to head to the Common Room and spent the night here." He grabbed his cloak and tossed me a vial. "After that curse you tend to have a lot of nightmares. Brings back the bad memories. That should help."

I looked at the vial and recognized it as the Dreamless Sleep. "Thank you."

"No problem. I tend to keep a stockpile." He waved goodbye and slipped out the door. I slowly went over the events of the night, my brain couldn't associate the man I'd spent the last couple of minutes talking to with the petty idiot boy who I'd traded insults with. It didn't make sense that a person who could actually be nice if he wanted to could be such a jerk on other days. My mind wasn't capable of putting two and two together and getting ten.

It went against every single rational idea that I had to trust him, but something about him made me trust the things he said. Was it the somber and quiet voice, one that sounded apologetic? Was it the ashamed and hurt look in his eyes? Was it the way that he looked at me, the sincere and honest look?

I can't say why I want to trust him. Why do I want to think he's a good person? Was he really that good of an actor? Or, did he change over the years, but was too afraid to admit it? How was it that twenty minutes with him had changed my entire view of him?

I'm not sure I could ever explain my thoughts, even if I had an entire year to say them. Maybe it's because I don't really understand them myself. I'll just sum up my ideas of him in the fact that I'm following my completely illogical gut feeling that somewhere deep down, Draco Malfoy is keeping a good person locked away. Maybe he's afraid that letting that out will make it go away.

But, what do I know? I don't even know what I'm thinking or feeling. Either way, I wouldn't want to be a good person right now. Not when everything's gone wrong. I'm afraid that all the good is leaving the world right now. It's kind of hard to thing good thoughts and to try and be good when everywhere you look you see evil.

More than that, I find it hard to believe that this is the way things will be. Somewhere, the world went wrong. Very, horribly, deeply wrong.

That's probably why I trust him, I'm looking for good in a bad place. That's probably it.

_-_-_-_

Wow, this is unusually deep and introspective for me. Considering my big story, I use the term lightly, is a total screw around light hearted comedy, this is really weird for me. I feel odd writing it, like I'm onto something big. I think I'm just depressed because I live in California and my mom works for a bank and my dad works for the state. Can you find a worse combination of jobs? In case you are unaware, California is completely broke as a state and may or may not have enough money to pay its employees. Talk about fun.

Anyway, complaining about lack of money aside… review. I'm a bit sad that a story I'm proud of has no reviews. First person to review gets to be my favorite person in the whole wide world until my mom buys me concert tickets!


	3. Chapter 3

One thing… the whole point is that Malfoy is OOC. He's supposed to be questioning everything he's been told since birth. Also, we (In the books) always saw him through Harry's eyes, we never really saw him when he felt it was okay to be himself. Also, he didn't want to kill Dumbledore, the entire sixth book they said that he looked stressed. That, in my opinion, was because he didn't want to be a murderer. Sorry if that wasn't clear to everyone. (LoneStar, you hit it right on! And yes, the super long review made up for it.)

_-_-_-_

I woke up and rubbed my eyes and looked around my room. Yawning I got up and grabbed a towel and headed to my private Heads bathroom. I quickly showered under the almost burning hot water I preferred and dried off. I walked into my bedroom, towel slung low on my hips.

"Hey Drake-y." I groaned internally. Why must my room be so easily accessable to the stupid public? "I like the look." I don't like you… "Aww, don't be mean? How come you don't want to see me?"

"Hmm, maybe because I'm half naked in a towel in the morning? Ever think I don't want to see you when I'm not wearing clothes?"

"Not really. I think you would."

I almost gagged at the thought of what she wanted… freakishly thin girls who whine about everything and look like the wrong end of a bulldog? No thank you. Call me vain, because I am. But that is not vain it's having standards. "If I wanted to screw a ugly, actually, I'd say disgustingly ugly, I'd screw one that didn't whine about everything. Now, do me a favor and jump in the lake."

I pushed her out the door as she whined. "But Drake-" I slammed the door in her face. For some reason, the door wasn't sound proof and I could still hear her, like the buzz of an insect.

"God she's annoying." I muttered as I threw on black slacks and boxers. I dried my hair with a quick spell and threw on a plain black tight-fitting shirt. I grabbed a black button-up shirt and pulled it on, not bothering to button the front at all. I rolled up the sleeves and grabbed my belt off the ground. I looked in the mirror and shrugged. It'd do for today.

I walked into the Common Room and ignored Pansy as she followed me, complaining about my lack of manners. "Shut up you stupid, ignorant, disgusting whore! I'm _not_ your boyfriend; I will _never_ be your boyfriend! I think you are the most incredibly annoying, ugly and stupid person I've ever met, and that's really incredible considering who your mother is. The only reason I took you to the Yule Ball is because your father _paid_ my father and he forced me to take you. Anybody with two brain cells would've never even looked at you! Do me a favor and jump in the lake with a few rocks shackled to your ankles, and for God's sake, leave me alone! I hate you. I truly honestly do!" I was breathing hard and glaring at her, hoping if I put enough hatred into it she'd figure it out.

The people around me were dead silent as she spoke. "You'll come around Drake." She trailed one finger down my chest and gave me a look that was supposed to be seductive. I think. Anyway, it made me want to puke. I shuddered in disgust and once she left the room I ripped my button-up off before I all but tore my shirt off and chucked it in the fire.

"I think I need a shower again."

_-_-_-_

Once I'd thrown on another tight shirt and button-up, black underneath a dark red silk shirt, I went to the Room of Hidden Things, or Room of Requirement. Depends who's talking. I knocked on the door, and hoped she'd answer.

The door creaked open and a slightly disheveled Weasley opened the door. "Malfoy? Whadda ya want?"

"To talk." She opened the door and I walked and sat on the couch. "If we're going to do this we need to set a ground rule. No saying who's giving you the information."

"Easy enough."

"As much as I would like to trust you completely, I don't. I want a loyalty oath. Simple one though. No telling people who I am. No writing it down either. It's easy enough to find a loop-hole so if you really want to tell people for some reason, you can. But, still. It has its limitations."

She looked at me skeptically. "A loyalty oath?"

I sighed and leaned back. "Yes. I prefer not to be killed."

"Your reasons to help still aren't quite clicking. It has some holes."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "If this Second War had never started I would've had the perfect life of a pampered rich pureblood. No worries. Just pay off a couple politicians to keep me rich and sit back and live off the interest on my accounts. Maybe make a few investments. With the war, I get the short end of the stick if the Dark Lord wins. If Potter wins, I get the good life again."

She snorted, "Of course your entire reasoning is based on you. Protect yourself and screw everyone else."

"Not really. If the Dark Lord wins and you live by some miracle, would you want to have children in a war ridden world ruled by a megalomaniac? I've got a few key interests, not just me. Of course, any outcome that betters me and doesn't involve too many deaths is good."

"Too many? A few is okay?"

I rolled my eyes. "This is a war. Do you see everybody coming out alive? You've got at least four brothers. Are they going to fight? What about Potter and Granger? You were friends, at least a little. Parents as well. Your family was already attacked."

"I've got six brothers, my mom and dad and Fluer and Bill got married. They have a daughter." She looked down, obviously thinking that maybe people she knew would get killed. Not just the faceless people in the papers.

In an odd moment of kindness, I threw an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a one armed hug. I was supposed to be a quick thing but she wrapped her arms around my waist and laid her head on my shoulder. To my credit, I didn't pull back as instinct told me to.

We stayed like that for a while, just sitting back and thinking. I wasn't expecting to have my parents come out alive, my mother was too far in and my father was on borrowed time. Ever since Potter's adventure into the Department of Mysteries the Dark Lord has been rather displeased, and my failure at the end of sixth year was another strike against him. He raised a weak son in their eyes.

I sighed and leaned further into the cushions and closed my eyes. "What're you thinking about?"

"My parents. I don't think my father will come out alive. No matter how much I wish I could never go back home and run away and never see him again, he's still my father. I don't think he's going to come out of this. The Dark Lord's unhappy to say the least. His few tasks have ended in failure. He's fallen out of favor. He'll make it to the end of the year, not much longer. The Dark Lord will wait until I can be his major funder."

She nodded. "The Department of Mysteries. It seemed like he was in charge. The Prophesy was destroyed and nobody knows what is says." I nodded. That was a major failure. Only his capture by the Ministry saved him from being killed on the spot. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. Besides, there's nothing we can do right now. I will work towards something being done though. No matter what, he can't win. I don't want to live the life he's promised me."

"All the people you can torture?"

"Pretty much. I'm supposed to be his right hand man. His glorified general. All the honor of leading a group of murderers and all the pressure of making sure they succeed or else I pay for it. Wow, what a great consolation prize. All I have to do is sell my soul, my money, my innocence and any possible heirs to a megalomaniac. Fun, fun, fun!" Catch the sarcasm?

"It's horrible."

I nodded. "See why I turned away? Only the spineless and brainless fools or complete bigots believe the stories of greatness and power. People, if the term even applies, like him don't share power. They horde it and deal controlled amounts. I'm not an idiot. I used to be, but not anymore. I'm not enamored with my father's tales anymore. I see the truth now. I won't follow him."

"I think you're savable. You've already turned away. I know people who can hide you. We have safe houses, one's under the Fidilus Charm. After Hogwarts when you don't sleep with those people we can hide you."

I let out a mirthless laugh. "They wouldn't trust me."

"Probably not." She laughed a little with me. "I shouldn't trust you either. For some reason, I do, I'm not sure why." She cocked her head.

"It's my good looks and devilishly handsome personality. I'm irresistible. Just ask any girl here. They all love me. It's not your fault. I just attract women like moths to a light." I puffed out my chest as she laughed, a real one this time.

For some strange reason, I found myself wanting to make her do it again.

_-_-_-_

I trekked my way back to the Gryffindor Common Room later that day. "Ginny!" Neville let out a relieved yell and all but tackled me to the ground. "Geeze! What'd they do?"

I should've known I'd worry people by not coming back. Stupid Draco Malfoy for being so easy to talk to… "Sorry Neville." I pulled back from his crushing hug. "The Carrows let me go last night. I… ran into a friend and it was too late to come back here. Follow me." I waved for him to follow and him, Seamus, and Lavender followed. Follow me was my new code for we can't talk here because the Carrows got the place bugged so I can't say anything.

I led them to the Room of Requirement and opened the door. Once we were inside I started to talk. "Me and my friend came here. He was able to make it back but I wasn't. I probably wouldn't have made it back anyway." That's code for 'they really screwed me up and I could barely walk'. "And yes, I know how to get this place. Harry showed me how. We can hide out here. It'll create almost anything."

"Gin you're a genius!" Neville said as he walked around. "Wait. You said your friend is a guy? Just what were you doing?" Neville was my new big brother.

"Not that it really matters but nothing. I said friend because I meant friend. As in, a friend, not boyfriend."

"I feel the need to act as an annoying big brother."

"If you haven't noticed I've got five."

Neville looked confused. "I thought you've got six brothers?"

I shrugged. "Bill's cool. He's not annoying." I flopped into a chair. "Anyway. The Common Room is bugged. The Carrows can show up and know everything we said. I say we camp out here. It's safer from them and we can make it so only certain people can get in, or so everyone but certain people can enter. We can set up base here." Seamus and Lavender were still exploring the room with Neville.

"How long will it stay open? Nobody we know has tried it for more than a few hours."

"Good question. One I don't know the answer to. I do know it's only open if somebody is here."

"I'll stay during classes." Neville said. "We can move out trunks here. Or at least some clothes. The Carrows know I'm leading our little rebellion. I'm already looking for a way to hide. I don't much like being tortured for walking to loudly."

"Nev…"

"It's cool Seamus. I'm just going to live off my families money and buy stocks. I don't need too much of an education for that. I might do a bit of herbology, but I know enough and what I don't know I'll get from books. It's all good mate."

Seamus looked thoughtful. "Can't we run shifts during class? Switch off?"

"Not unless you want to bring a ton of people here." I frowned. "I don't know how many of the people in the younger years we can trust. What if they sell us out to get out of trouble? They're more likely to tell who comes here and when. They'll rat us all out."

"What about food?"

"The Carrows don't know we know how to get to the kitchens. Plus, I know a crazy elf who'll bring us food. Dobby is in love with Harry and will do anything to help the oh-so-great Harry Potter's friends."

Neville set his face into one of determination. "Then it's settled. I'll stay here and you guys come here at night. Bring the Creevy brothers, they take a whole lot of crap because they have a grandfather who is a squib. They are "Real Wizards" according to the Carrows. They can chill here after class and at night."

We all nodded. Really, Neville here made things safer. "Dobby?" I tried. "I wonder if he'll come, how do House Elves do that anyway?"

There was a small pop. "We know when we are needed." Dobby supplied.

"Oh." That was a ridiculously easy and obvious answer… "Well, my friends and I can't make it to lunch, so can you bring us food, but on the sly?"

Dobby nodded energetically. "Of course! Any friend of the Great Harry Potter is a friend of Dobby's!" He popped off and not thirty seconds later came back with four trays piled with an enormous amount of food. "Is there anything else Dobby can get yous?"

"No, no, we're fine. Thank you Dobby. Everything looks great." Dobby beamed at the praise and popped off with an energetic wave.

"When you said you knew a crazy House Elf you meant it. Weird little bugger." Seamus grabbed a sandwich and shoved it in his mouth. "Crazy bugger can cook though. Damn good food."

Neville nodded in agreement. "Damn good."

Lavender and I exchanged looks. Yes, we were surrounded by barbarians disguised as civilized people. So much for pureblood breeding gentlemen. Neville and Ron were worse than Seamus and Dean.

Dean. I almost sighed. He wasn't a very good boyfriend when we dated, but I missed him right now. So many people were gone now that the Ministry was being run by Voldemort. Stupid pureblood obsessed bigots.

The world may be going to hell but it was the moments right now where I was hanging out with friends and managing to be a teenager for an hour or two that kept me going. It'd been a while since I could relax and laugh. It felt nice.

_-_-_-_

Wow. This story confuses me. Not in a "I don't know what I'm writing", way but more of "this isn't what I usually write" way. It's too serious. I don't know. I tried for a few chuckles or whatever but it didn't quite work. I only left one in near the middle because it wasn't flowing. The story really isn't funny so any funny stuff seems out of place. Maybe it's me being OCD again.

Tell me what you think though, I like feedback/praise/reviews in general. Ideas too, occasionally I use them, but they're interesting to read and see where people think it should go. I sort of keep that in mind so I keep readers happy.


	4. Chapter 4

A Different Sort of Fairytale

Chapter Four: So, We Meet Again

I walked into the room and looked around at the desks in need of repair, old teaching podiums, and chairs. I hopped up onto a beaten up teachers desk and sat and waited. Not thirty seconds later the blond-haired boy I'd been waiting for walked in and scanned the room. "You sure nobody saw you come in?"

I nodded. "Yeah, if they had they would've followed me and I didn't see anyone. I'm good. You?"

"Pansy won't think twice about me ditching her. It's all good. How're you doing? I heard the Carrows were angry about Longbottom dropping off the face of the earth."

I took a deep breath. "I'm trying to avoid them as best I can. It's working okay. They're hauling Gryffindors in more and more. Everyone knows they're trying to bait him into coming out. We're having a hard time restricting him." I closed my eyes and hung my head. "They know how to get to him and it's working really well."

Draco nodded. "The Death Eaters have a knack for breaking people. There's a reason the Carrows were placed him. They're ruthless when it comes to torture and getting in people's heads. The Dark Lord trusted them enough to put them here for a reason. He's crazy, but brilliant. And so are they in their own twisted way. There are a lot of people here who remember Dumbledore and Potter as hero's and expect a miracle from Potter. The Dark Lord wants those people broken, and broken right now. No people with dangerous ideas running around, you see."

It made sense. "I'm sick of it. The Death Eaters. The war. Harry, Ron, Hermione and the Order. Everything. I just want things to go back to the way they were. Back when I could just have fun and forget that there is a world beyond Hogwarts. Back when you didn't check the papers to see if your family is still alive."

"Me too." I was shocked at how soft his voice was. When he sat next to me and put an arm around my shoulders I leaned into his warm chest and allowed him to pull me close. I wasn't sure why I wrapped my arms around him and laid my head on his shoulder. "I just want my life."

"I do too." We sat there for a while, and something about his tight grip and surprisingly solid frame was comforting in a way. The way he was… him, was reassuring. The hard lines of his chest, the heat of Draco was secure. Like being here would keep the war at bay, even if only for a little while.

"We need to hurry. People will notice that we're gone." I nodded into his chest before disentangling myself from him. "The Dark Lord has ordered that "exceptionally faithful" followers here at Hogwarts are to be trained. Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Zabini. Everyone but me. I've already had the crash course in Unforgivables." There was a bitterness when he mentioned his own training. "The Carrows are leading the training and Snape is helping. He's training an army before they even join. None of them are marked." He paused. "You might want to keep up your little DA thing again, you'll need it if he orders that they are to attack. None of you would stand a chance against what they'll be learning."

I nodded and made a point to make plans to make sure people survive. "When will they start? How much will they cover?"

"As soon as possible. I'm not sure when, though. But they'll be covering some pretty high level things. Unforgivables, Fiendfyre, things that will earn you time in Azkaban. Nothing pleasant, that's for sure." His features darkened and his steely eyes seemed black as pitch. "Things I wish I didn't know."

I didn't question his statement. They look on his face was enough to make me keep my silence on that matter. "Are there any spells to block that sort of thing?"

"In the library there's a book in the restricted section called Magicks Moste Eville. Nobody would check it out to you but the Carrows will give it to me for the rest of the year. I'd try the defensive magic in there." He looked at his watch. "I've got to go, but I'll contact you when I've got the book." His stormy grey eyes met mine. "Try and stay safe."

All I could do was nod and look a little star-struck as his intense gaze met mine. "Yeah, I'll see you later."

_-_-_-_

I looked at her and gulped. Her warm honey-brown eyes were drawing me in. I don't know why, most girls were pretty, but none really seemed that important to me. I wanted her to be safe right now. I felt my body move closer on its own accord. Through my thin uniform shirt I could feel the intense heat radiate off her body as I moved closer. I'm not sure why, but I leaned down and pressed her lips to mine.

In the bad books, they talk about fireworks and the rest of the world fading away and nothing else mattering. I'd always scoffed at the stupid romantics and impossible standards. Nothing was ever like that. Who knew that a Weasley would ever make a Malfoy admit he was wrong? Not me, and I would've never thought it was the infuriating Ginny either.

But right now, the world was fading away and the muggle fireworks were going off as heat pounded through me veins. It seemed like an eternity passed before I pulled away, panting for breath. I met her slightly shocked gaze as my chest heaved.

Then, the world came crashing back into reality. I'd just kissed Ginny Weasley. Draco Scorpius Malfoy had just willingly kissed Ginny Weasley. Me, kiss her. I liked it. That wasn't supposed to happen. "I- uh." I stuttered, trying to find words. "Me- go… Um, well…" I probably looked like an idiot.

What if she wanted it though? Aw, who was I kidding? Why would she want to-

My thoughts were cut short by the source of my rambling incoherent thoughts pulling me into a heated kiss.

Now, in retrospect it was probably a bad idea. I really didn't have any problems with it, but everyone around us did. My father would kill her, my mother would put us on different sides of the planet, the Death Eaters would torture her, the Dark Lord would kill her. Her family wouldn't kill me, but they would probably brutally beat me. Any way you looked at it, bad outcome, right?

But, that was in retrospect. Right now, it was a pretty good idea. Especially as I was engaging in said idea. I moved one hand up her back to tangle in her hair as I pulled her closer and moved so she was sitting on the desk and had a leg on either side of me. This seemed too good to be true, like any second I would wake up to Blaise's teasing of much too vivid dreams.

This time she broke the kiss and I opened my eyes to again find myself falling into her warm honey-colored eyes. God, she was beautiful. "I- we need to go." I felt my elated mood fall at her words. "People will be looking for us."

I nodded dumbly. "Yeah, you're right." I looked down at my watch. "Half an hour to curfew, you have time to make it back?"

"I'll have ten minutes to spare."

I ran my fingers through my hair. "That'll be cutting it short. You'd do best to hurry." I paused. "Where are you going? The Common Rooms or Room of Hidden Things? The Carrows probably won't be near the Room of Hidden Things. They've got no reason to be."

"Room of Requirement. That's where Neville is. We don't really go to the Common Room anymore. Not now, they're listening to all the conversations in there."

I ran through my hair, my nervous reaction. "You'd better hurry. No reason to provoke the Carrows." She nodded before going up on her tip toes to give me a quick peck.

"Bye, Draco." I grinned as she walked out.

"Bye, Ginny." That was the first time she called me Draco.

_-_-_-_

It was two days later that I'd had the time to get the book for her. I wasn't able to meet up for a little while so I was flicking through the pages as I stuck pieces of scrap parchment into the book where it mentioned defensive spells. I'd even tried a few. Who knows, maybe the tides of fate would turn and I'd end up fighting on their side. You never know. I thrust my wand forward and an opaque half bubble popped up around me and it rippled and shone in the light. I poked it. Solid. Definitely useful.

I scribbled on a piece of paper and blew on the ink, drying it. I stuck it in the book and made a reminder to use that spell. Powerful, that one. I flipped through and marked a few pages as possible spells to defend against as I knew that spell, so they might as well. It was dead boring, really, but who knows. It might save a person's life. Might save her. She was too important to lose, and that thought scared me. I'd never been attached to someone who was in danger. If I was a good Death Eater my mother was fine. Nobody else mattered.

And she'd changed that.

I checked my watch and shoved the book in my bag. Almost time to leave. I slung the bag over my shoulder and sauntered out, ignore the people in the Commons. I walked into the halls and I walked down two when I just about died. There, struggling in the grasp of the Carrows, was Ginny.

"Ah, Draco. Perhaps you could help us teach some Gryffindors that you don't disrespect the Carrows." Amycus gave a disgustingly twisted smile and I forced myself to smirk in response.

"Of course." I put on my Death Eater swagger and followed them into the "Detention" Rooms. Sick twisted freaks…

"We need to patrol soon, would you take over for a minute while I get Severus?"

"Of course."

"Just keep an eye on them for now." I looked at the other two students, Patil and Brown. "Don't do anything else. Got that, Malfoy?"

I nodded. "I'm not as stupid as Goyle, I can hear." I sat in the chair and kicked back. I waited until they'd left and I pulled out my wand. The other two flinched and Ginny gave me a wary look. It seems I might be too good of an actor. I flicked my wand and cast the spell from before. She gave me a thankful look.

"You can trust them Draco."

"Draco? Since when the hell were you on a first name basis with the spawn of Satan Ginny?" Brown shot her an angry look. Like Ginny had betrayed them.

I just rolled my eyes and cast the same spell two more times. "Since I decided that following Satan was a stupid idea, The Dark Lord has horrible health and dental plans." I leaned back in my chair. "And before you ask, no, I cannot undo the chains and let you go. Spelled to open to the Carrows and Snape. You'll just have to sit tight. Also, Ginny, I have the book for you. And the Gossip Twins better not say a word to anyone about me. I've got a status as an evil Death Eater to uphold if I don't want to be slowly and painfully killed." I opened an eye to glare at said Gossip Twins.

The two nodded. "What'd you do?"

"Cast a spell. You're body will be affected by the pain and you know you're in pain, but you won't feel it. It's hard to explain unless somebody tortures you. You'll find out soon. The Carrows will guarantee that. Trust me. They've shown me on many occasions." I kicked back in my chair as the Gossip Twins shook.

"That's not very reassuring." I glanced at Ginny who was glaring at me.

"No, but neither is being chained to a wall awaiting Death Eaters. You expect me to say that everything is all good and that I love fluffy bunnies? I'm realistic. I've gotten over the sugar coated world. If anybody is still living there they are living a lie. The Carrows rule Hogwarts and the Dark Lord rules the Ministry. Life in Britain is over. Gone. I want the truth, not a nice lie that resembles the truth."

"I just want to live." I barely heard the whisper from the dark-skinned girl. I felt bad for her. She looked like she was going to cry.

"They won't kill you." She looked at me with watery eyes. "You're a pureblooded twin, magically 'perfect' in the psycho asshole's eyes. You're relatively safe."

She sniffled and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. The door slammed open and Alecto stalked in, eyes blazing. "Weak." He spat at the crying girl. "Tears are for the useless. The weak." He whipped out his wand and threw the Cruciatus Curse at her. She writhed in pain on the ground and I averted my eyes behind Alecto's eyes. Even if she was safe from the pain, I hated looking at it.

I heard his demented laugh. I wanted to punch him. He spent the next half hour alternating between his captives. I spent the time trying to not puke or punch him and look like I liked watching him torture people. I hate me.

_-_-_-_

I limped out of Torture Chambers along with Lavender and Pavartie. We slowly made our way to the Room of Requirement where Neville was. "Ginny." I spun to meet Draco's piecing gaze. He looked pissed. Really, really pissed. "Here," He handed me a bottle and I quickly swallowed it. He waved his wand and the odd detached feeling left. In its place was dull ache as the pain from the crucio curse set in. "You okay?"

That struck me as an incredibly stupid question. "Do you think I'm okay?"

"Probably not. Drink this. Nerve Repair." I gulped the small vial and the tremors stopped a little as a warm feeling spread. "I laced it with a small dose of Pepper-Up Potion." He handed Lavender and Pavartie the potions as well. "They help a little." He cancelled the spells on them and I leaned on him as we walked slowly to the Room of Requirement. We were two corridors away when I heard the person. Seamus. "I gotta go. Bye." He shoved a old leather bound book in my hands just before took off running. Just as he disappeared around a corner Seamus rounded the corner ahead of us.

"What happened?" I could see the relief on his face despite the worry. "Did you meet up with the Carrows?" He hurried over. "Let's get back to the Room of Requirement. You're lucky tomorrows a weekend. You can sleep it off." He helped the three of us down the hall to the door leading to our sanctuary. He knocked three times before entering. As soon as we were in he told us, "We're starting this. Every day we give you a number. One through five, keep it simple. If you enter and knock the wrong amount of times, we assume you're under the Imperious or it's a person under Polyjuice. We knock you out and tie you up. We won't let the Carrows sneak in."

I nodded and all but collapsed onto the couch as my body screamed for rest. "I got a book. The Carrows are teaching the Slytherin Seventh Years dark magic. Bad, bad stuff. I've got an informant in there. I won't tell so don't ask. He got me a book. Magicks Moste Eville. Looks like he already read through and marked it. It's all spells to defend ourselves. We'll start up another smaller DA. Seventh and Sixth Years we one hundred percent know we can trust. No maybes. No Slytherins. If one of us says no, the person doesn't come here."

"But Gin, they need to know-"

I cut Neville off. "Yeah, but we won't help anyone dead or in a cell in a Death Eaters mansion. Only people we can trust."

"Padma of course."

"All the remaining Gryffindors."

"Boot."

"No!" I cut in. "Definitely not Boot. Or McLaggen. I don't trust him. I've seen him with the Carrows. Plus, anyone notice they don't ever give him detention? He's a power hungry coward. No McLaggen." They listed off a few more people to invite. We all grudgingly accepted that we'd stun the people who turned us down. People talk under the crucio.

But, despite the ache and the loud voices, I felt oddly good. It seemed my coup with Draco might actually work. I excused myself and fell into a bed and drew the curtains as people banged out the details outside. Slowly the voices died and the lights dimmed as we all settled in.

_-_-_-_

Oddly normal ending. Anyways, to the few people who read, have this on alert and review this story, thank you, thank you. I love the feedback and comments. Writing on here really does make my days that much more enjoyable. Really, I love coming home to twenty messages in my inbox. Even if five are spam. (I HATE YAHOO!'S FIREWALLS AND ANTI-SPAM SOFTWARE!) Anyway… review. I love reviews. Truly, I do. I love hearing what you want to see, what you think. Everything.

Also… if you've read my other stories, I've updated the Chronicles of Fayt. (The story has nothing to do with Star Ocean, it's Harry Potter.) Also, there is a poll up for when Jason's secret identity shall be revealed. Check out my profile people.


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